Żabie Doły, Natural and landscape complex in Silesia, Poland
Żabie Doły is a landscape complex spanning three municipalities and featuring 12 water reservoirs, railway embankments, and former industrial mounds now covered in vegetation. The area of roughly 226 hectares contains diverse habitats with varied plant life and aquatic environments.
The area formed through zinc, lead, and coal mining that ended in the 1950s, causing ground subsidence and creating water-filled depressions. This shift from extraction to landscape recovery took place over several decades.
Local high school students from Bytom and Louisenlund played a role in securing protected status for the area in 1997 through their environmental research.
The complex is accessible from four directions, with free parking available on Krzyżowa Street in Bytom. Six bird observation shelters are distributed throughout the area for watching wildlife.
The site hosts roughly 129 bird species thriving in this blend of industrial past and natural recovery. This interplay shows how wildlife adapts to dramatically altered environments.
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